John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will welcome one Minister of State and bid the other farewell in the same breath.

I have some sympathy for the motion, although I am not convinced that fluoride-free water is a fundamental right. The motion overstates the case. Senator Colm Burke referred to the Supreme Court ruling of Mr. Justice John Kenny that it is not a fundamental right. While people generally should be free to choose, it is difficult to see how this right can be balanced with the undoubted benefits to the public of fluoridation of water.

Nothing in the contribution by the proposer of the motion is uncontested. Senator MacSharry said the jury is out on this, but it is not. The expert body on fluorides and health is unambiguous about the safety of fluoridation of water. Fluoridation is measured as parts per million and 0.6 to 0.8 parts per million is deemed to be the optimal level for protecting overall oral health for all age groups without causing any risk to health. The correct amount of fluoride in water is not harmful according to the expert body. The WHO is also clear on it, and explicitly recommends that those countries which do not have access to optimal levels of fluoride and have not yet established systematic fluoridation programmes consider the development and implementation of fluoridation programmes. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rated fluoridation as one of the ten most important public health achievements in the 20th century.

The idea that fluoridation is compulsory by law in this country and banned in others is incorrect. Senator Zappone spoke about the semantics of the argument, and I would like to have a debate on the importance of our use of language, although we do not have time in this contribution. Fluoridation is supported by law in this country. It is not banned in other countries, just not required in law. This is very different from taking an active legislative measure to ban it, which is not the case. The EU Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks is unable to conclude that fluoridation of water places any risk on human health or the environment. It is very difficult to understand why we would have such little faith in the organisations charged with weighing the scientific evidence in an objective manner and suppose that, somehow, they are conspiring in some way to cause public ill health when their objective is the opposite. The Health Products Regulatory Authority, HSE, Department of Health, the expert body on fluorides and health, the EU bodies, WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are all giving assurances that there are no demonstrable risks to health from fluoridation and I am happy to take their advice.

The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, referred to peer-reviewed scientific evidence and this is the most important factor when we consider any argument for or against any measure. The last time we debated fluoridation of water in the House I heard very many inaccuracies, including that the fluoride used in water was a by-product of some industrial process, possibly fertiliser production. It is very important that we, as legislators in this House, no matter what our different views, put the facts into the public domain rather than scaremonger, as the Minister of State said.

While I have some sympathy with the argument, I am very familiar with the Nuffield study, which weighs the balance between the right to choose the use of a product against the public health benefits of a product. While the jury is out on that question, it is not out on the health risks related to fluoridation of water. Even if I were to state I was an advocate of the right to choose in virtually all areas of life, it is very difficult to see how, with one public delivery system, we can provide both fluoridated and non-fluoridated water. Regarding the balance of rights, this cannot be provided. To say it is a fundamental human right is an overstatement of the case and does no justice to those who propose, in genuine good faith, that water should not be fluoridated.